Neon Genesis Evangelion
This page under construction. explain religious symbolism transcendence god 2001 Philosophy Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer was a German pessimist philosopher best known for his 1818 work The World as Will and Representation where he characterizes the phenomenal world as the product of a blind and insatiable metaphysical will. This will is the fundamental nature of what kant called the thing in itself, the fundamental basis of the world. He did not literally believe it was just a will, but since the will was its most developed aspect a term like “force” would sound too impersonal. Schopenhauer equated the will to the hindu idea of brahman, and in general was heavily influenced by hindu and buddhist theology. To him the will is a fundamental universal thing. And the idea of individual egoes that show up in individuals is not a true metaphysical distinction, but a construct that we have that gives us personal identity. Even though we are composed of a small aspect of the will. He believed that this will, called the will to life was irrational, and that its cravings that make it cling to life were the source of human suffering. In this sense he is echoing the buddhist philosophy that suffering is born from that which makes you cling to your individual existence. We should not desire individuality, since it is in life we find suffering, but by denying individuality we can overcome our will, due to erasing our desire for and compliance with individual impulse. Though h believed that life was suffering, he did not think suicide was a solution, because it could not fundamentally harm the will that composed you. But that only certain practices such as aesceticism and art or logic which could help one understand the world objectively and externally and as such override immediate impulse. Schopenhauer was the creator of the hedgehog's dillema, which is a metaphor about the challenges of human intimacy. It describes a situation in which a group of hedgehogs seek to move close to one another to share heat during cold weather. They must remain apart, however, as they cannot avoid hurting one another with their sharp spines. Though they all share the intention of a close reciprocal relationship, this may not occur, for reasons they cannot avoid. Both Arthur Schopenhauer and Sigmund Freud have used this situation to describe what they feel is the state of the individual in relation to others in society. The hedgehog's dilemma suggests that despite goodwill, human intimacy cannot occur without some degree mutual harm, and that this harm is the cause of tension and dissatisfaction. Schopenhauer is one of the inspirations for parts of evangelion, though Anno admits that his knowledge of him was not large when beginning the series. The most obvious part is the hedgehog's dillema, referred to explicitly to highlight the problems with existence and intimacy. However, there is a deeper sense in which the series relates to schopenhauer. Humanity in the series is described as emerging from a kind of primordial unity in a way reminiscent of schopenhauer, with your individuality being a thing tenuously held together. And when they are born into individuality, so begins suffering that stems from their individual human will. It encompasses aspects of his pessimistic philosophy by saying that your individual will will always bring you to causes of dissatisfaction and loneliness that must be overcome. Similaar to schopenhauer, seele takes the perspective that individual existence is a bad quality and source of suffering, seeking to find a way to overcome this. Though the show inverts this similar to the way nietzsche did, saying that rather, you should be life affirming and affirm your will. The organization wille in the reboots is most likely also named after schopenhauer's use of the term.